Page 80 of Stripping Bare

Just three more stepsand—

Whomp!From a nearby tree,the modified mace Jonah had crafted swung and broadsided Britt, the pine sap-covered volleyball connecting with his helmet and sticking. Jonah would probably owe his brother new gear for that, but seeing Britt scan the woods feverishly for the enemy was so worthit.

Two down and one togo.

As if he had all the time in the world, Jonah patiently waited for Reid to realize his comrade in arms was no longer in the game. Sure enough, Reid went to investigate and stomped around Britt when he found him standing there, volleyball glued to hishead.

Reid didn’t release Britt because that would be breaking the rules of engagement. But his face took on a determined stubbornness that in Jonah’s younger days would’ve meant a wedgie or a toilet dunking was in hisfuture.

Not today, bigbrother.

Jonah had deliberately laid a very subtle trail on his way to the ravine. Of course, Reid picked it up quickly and a smug smile crossed his face. At one point, he squatted down to check the leaves in his path. He swung his head left, then right, and just as Jonah had anticipated, he chose the path lesstraveled.

He’d taken all of ten steps when Jonah’s trap engaged. A camouflaged rope tightened around Reid’s ankle, pulled his feet out from under him, and yanked him three feet off the ground. Hanging there upside down, Reid used every cuss word in the book and some even Jonah had never put together. He was especially impressed withass-chattingfucknut.

Whatever thatmeant.

With the way Reid was thrashing and cussing, it was a good thing Jonah had decided on a one-inch diameter bungee shock cord rather than some old rope from the barn. Feeling pretty damn proud of himself, Jonah climbed down from the tree the net was hanging from and sauntered up to his olderbrother.

“Don’t walk up here looking like you own the world,” Reid said. “Grif is still out there. He may dress like a city boy, but he shoots the way he wasraised.”

“He’s currently cooling his heels in apit.”

“Sheeeeeit,” Reiddrawled.

“And since I’m the Steele Survivor, the three of you have to do anything I tell you to for the next twenty-fourhours.”

“What the hell? That’s never been part of thegame.”

“Winner makes the rules.” Damn, it felt good to get the better of his brothers. As a kid, Steele Survivor had been Jonah’s way of melding real life with his video game ideas to get the best of both worlds. Taking the beautiful North Carolina mountains and making boys’ play accessible to kids all over theworld.

“And you have no intention of telling us why you body-tackled Mrs. Vanderwinkle, doyou?”

“My problem, and I’ll solveit.”

“That’s not the way it works. We’re a family. We handle thingstogether.”

“I—” Before Jonah could finish his rebuttal, something whacked him in the center of the back with the force of a…a paintball. “Thatdoesn’t—”

“Don’t say it doesn’t count,” Micki said. “Tessa got you fair andsquare.”

Tessa?

He swung around to find Micki and Tessa grinning at him from the trees. Brynne was behind them carrying an armload of ammo. In a helmet, sneakers, and coveralls clinging to her curves, Tessa looked as if she should either be a mechanic in Grand Theft Auto or a driver in RidgeRacer.

His dick took one look and woke the hellup.

Great. Now he’d never again be able to play two of his all-time faves without getting astiffy.

“And didn’t I just hear you say that the Steele Survivor gets to make the rules for a day?” Tessa asked sweetly, so sweetly it made his teethache.

“You and Micki are still both liveplayers.”

Without so much as an eyelid twitch, Tessa shot his sister in thefoot.

Tessa was still glowingfrom her victory after she and Jonah changed out of their paintball coveralls and were back in street clothes. He held the farmhouse’s front door and followed her outside. “I need to make a quick trip toCharlotte.”

“You just told your family you would explain what’s goingon.”